Sydney 2012

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So arrived in Auckland airport ready for my flight to Sydney at 3am, so very tired but ready for the next chapter to begin. Now... know matter who you are when you board a flight and sit down you eye ball the isle to see who you'd like to sit next to you and who you most certainly wouldn't. I've never been lucky with this game, however as I sat in the middle seat I thought my luck had changed as a young blonde chick sat down next to me, happy days, then to add to this another blonde Aussie lady sat on the other side. I was already thinking in my head what openning lines I could use!! My luck soon when back to how it was when both girls simultaneously pulled out a vogue magazine and started reading - this was a sign that conversation was not on the agenda. However, optimistic, I saw a tattoo of a jigsaw piece on the girl to my rights wrist. I said "oh so whats the story behind getting a puzzle piece tat on your wrist?" her reply "Because I think im the missing piece to someone's life" at this point I grabbed my ipod and switched it on loud!!

Hours later we landed, sun was out and blue sky surrounded me, I was loving life. I jumped on a train from the airport with a weekly ticket that I had just brought for $61AUD which Is a great deal to purchase because one return train ticket is $14, so this weekly ticket includes ferries, public buses and trains so bargin. After a 2min ride to Central Station and a few crazy texts and calls to my mate who was meeting me, I was in the heart of Sydney and ready to hit the city (surprisingly not tired now). First off a massive catch up with my friend (Matt Shipley - previously mentioned in my USA Road Trip Blog) who had been travelling around Australia since the NewYear. We hadn't seen each other for a year and yet it didnt feel any different, properly because we were about to continue the banter from America into Sydney. I checked into the Hostel and shot straight down to the harbour where we had a few pints as the sun set on the first evening. We hit the city bars, and ended the night with a KFC, where I had a bbq chicken wrap - thinking I was being healthy.

Early morning sun hit me hard to wake me up at 8am, because Id been used to NewZealand time (making it 11am), I couldn't just stay in bed and doze so got ready and at 8:45-9am jumped on a train towards the Opera House and harbour bridge (where else would you go on your first day in Sydney). The impression I got as I stepped off the train wasn't the normal impression you get when your about to see an iconic building like the Opera House. It seemed less touristy I suppose. The Opera House was impressive, theres no doubt about that, but I think to get the WOW factor id need to revisit in the night for the lights to illuminate the sail arch like structure. I walked along the slopped stoney walkway along side the harbour with a mochachino to quench my thirst for caffeine. I was incredible to be standing alongside such a building that is represented on most travel documents for Australia.

Mid-afternoon approached and without having anything to eat I made my way back to the hostel to meet up with Matt again to see what antic's we could get up to for the rest of the day. I got dragged into a backpackers free internet cafe which seemed like a con, then noticed Matt sitting at a computer with the Facebook page open as standard. Small world even when your in a massive city. To mix up the afternoon I get told about this 5 packet noodle challenge which hasn't been accomplished yet, me being a big eater, I take on the challenge of eating 5 packets of noodles in one sitting. Little did I know how hard this actually is. The beauty of the task is that it costed me $2.95 and filled me up after not eating anything all day. I failed the challenge epically, but for Matt's fourth attempt dominated the 5 packets - in hindsight it was fortunate that I couldnt finish mine because I got to see Matt struggle to get up the stairs to the hostel rooms!!

Second day in Matt, Rob and I went and caught a ferry over to Manly, which is known for its sights of Sydney harbour and the surfing beaches. The journey was about 20minutes away so we decided to get a coffee for the ride. It was a beautiful day and as we slowly went past the Opera house, the building started to warm to me more and more I saw it. We made our way across to the beaches once we banked alongside Manly. Because of it being the middle of winter the ocean wasn't swarming with people and surfers but you got the idea of how packed it could be when Sydney is in full summer swing. We adventured around the rocks near the shore and explored all the crevices that the water errotion had left. Some crabs but nothing that New Zealand beaches hadnt produced before. So we continued on towards the cliff edges of Manly where their World War Two trenches were still exposed and the bolts where Australia's Army planted their cannons to defend the city. It was very interesting to see. After the mammoth walk around the island we arrived back at the port at the best time of day to be getting the ferry back because the sun set as we washed past the harbour bridge and Opera house. Couldn't have timed it any better as it was pitch black when we jumped back on solid ground, ready to relax for the adventure the next day brings.



Thursday held a special day indeed, as I travelled up to the highest heights of Sydney Harbour Bridge. We went on the Express climb which took 2.15hours in total, there and back down. The funniest part was that once we started the wind picked up and kept growning stronger by the minute. Which in turn meant that once we were at the top we were getting blown backwards by 105kmph winds. The guild we were with explained that this was the strongest winds she had ever climbed in all of her 200 odd climbs with the Harbour Bridge Climb company. It really did feel like doing my skydive again, really did add to the experience though.

Last night in Sydney and the lads in the hostel decided that because I was getting a flight at 6am "what would be the point of going to sleep??" so for that reason I didn't. We walked on across the road to a bottle shop and brough some citrus flavoured Vodka and went back to the hostel kitchen to set up a few drinking games. One of which I'd never played and was like horse racing with cards, who ever came up with the idea of this game was either needing to get very pissed quickly or just like to see others play the game without realising themself how quickly you get drunk from playing it lol. After the bottle was empty we went next door for a few cheap drinks in the Hostel bar/club and continued the evening with style/ dancing like a robot for a while. To finish off the night I set up some road blockage signs that I found in line for my hurdles atempt. Fortunatley because of being six foot four and despite the pressures of a camcorder on me, I cleared the signs without any troubles and looked good for the camaras for my last night in Sydney. I love Sydney!!

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